As the use of computer-based networks such as the Internet continues to expand, content providers are providing more and more content in digital form. This content includes traditional media such as books, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, manuals, guides, references, articles, reports, documents, etc., that exist in print, as well as electronic media in which the aforesaid content is distributed in digital form. Music and video are also increasingly stored and distributed in digital form.
Nevertheless, in a majority of cases, information in media tends to be static. That is, after the information is fixed in a medium (e.g., printed in a book), the information is not updated, except by revising and printing another version of the book. Separate addenda may be printed and physically added to a book, but considerable additional effort is required to locate the book and have the addendum appropriately placed in the book. Also, the addenda is current only as of its printing date.
In many circumstances, users of media desire to obtain supplemental information that is related to the content of the media they are using. For example, a user reading a book that mentions an event in history may wish to know more about that event. In other examples, a user may wish to view an updated bibliography of a book that the user is reading, or read more about an audio recording to which the user is listening. Quite often, however, relevant supplemental information is located only after a user considers a search strategy and searches extensively for the information. Searching can be difficult and time-consuming on the part of the user. To obtain the desired information, the user may need to travel to a library or bookstore to conduct a search. While more and more information is available in digital form, a user still needs to electronically search for the information without any certainty that the search will be successful. In yet other circumstances, users of media may not even know that relevant supplemental information is available, and thus may not even undertake a search for such information.
What is needed is a system and method that identifies media content that a user is using and provides relevant supplemental information to the users in an easy, efficient, and automated manner. Desirably, the supplemental information is organized in a such a way that users receive the supplemental information that is most relevant to the content of the media being used.